Singapore rolls out 120,000 devices to schools

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Education IT

By Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri | 30 August 2012 | Views: 4013

Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) rolled out 120,000 devices to 351 schools under the Standard ICT Operating Environment (SSOE) project.

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During the SSOE Deployment Milestone Celebration on August 24, the MOE, in partnership with NCS, announced the completion of the transition phase that would empower over 500,000 students. The devices consisting of desktop computers, notebook computers, and tablet Pcs have been arranged for over 40,000 principals, teachers, and administrative staff who have been educated on the use of the new services and solutions under the programme.

”The Schools Standard ICT Operating Environment (SSOE) programme has enhanced the ICT infrastructure of schools in Singapore, to provide an environment for greater use of ICT in teaching and learning in schools,” said SSOE Programme Director Lim Teck Soon.

“With SSOE, schools can now look forward to faster speed, enhanced security and full on-site support for their computing needs to enhance teaching and learning. A strong focus on users’ needs and the close partnership between MOE and NCS had enabled the entire programme to be implemented successfully. We are confident that SSOE will redefine the pedagogical approach in the education system in Singapore and equip future generations of students to harness the full potential of ICT,” he added.

Launched in June 2010, the SSOE programme has arranged and managed desktops, network and ICT support for all MOE schools in Singapore, enabling both wired and wireless network to improve the school’s network performance and accessibility to education applications. Also, the programme has provided computing devices to all staff and school computing labs to facilitate effective and efficient use of the ICT infrastructure.

For the next phase of the SSOE programme, NCS will manage the operations and provide maintenance support and technology refresh of the desktops and infrastructure, as part of the eight-year contract with the MOE.

“As part of the curriculum, the teachers will bring students down to our eco-pond and herb garden to do their learning. With the use of the mobile carts, students can now access the information online. They will do their research, before collaborating and presenting to their classmates in the classroom,” said Jane Wong, Head of ICT Department, Guangyang Primary School.

To ensure effective adoption of new technologies available to teachers and administrative staff, a comprehensive change management programme consisting of training workshops and regular communications were organised during the transition phase. The objective of this effort was to educate the schools’ staff on utilising the infrastructure and resources. Activities included conducting of surveys, focus group discussions, regular newsletters and setting up of a SSOE Service Portal as a point of engagement for school staff.

Under the SSOE Programme, desktop support through remote assistance technology is provided to teachers. With this, Service Desk engineers can take over the school staffs’ notebook and guide them along in the actions on the spot. Mobile carts are also available in schools for students to use computing devices anywhere, thus encouraging ICT-based learning. Managed print services will also be rolled out as an option for schools to subscribe to, which provides cost-effective print services on a pay-per-use basis without the need to buy and own the printers. The use of a single ID to login across applications, and replacing of the login token with SMS authentication has also provided convenience to users and enhanced user experience.

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